Some known systems and methods enable the purchase, delivery, and use of gift cards or other financial instruments or accounts that represent an amount of money to be exchanged for goods or services, or other forms of stored value and prepaid access. Such known systems and methods for gift cards, however, typically provide little or no opportunity for flexibility and creativity in the nature of the gift cards by placing limitations or conditions on the redemption of the gift cards; and provide limited or no opportunity for further interaction, information sharing, messaging, or marketing between and/or among associated parties related to the gift card system. Some known gift card systems also suffer easily-exploitable security flaws in that gift card information printed or encoded on a plastic card is subject to theft prior to the card's activation. Additionally, another disadvantage of existing gift card systems is the inability to provide gift card issuers (e.g., merchants) the flexibility to convert existing gift cards to a new gift card management platform or administration system without significant expense and burden.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and system that can provide a more interactive, customizable, flexible, and secure gift card experience for purchasers, recipients, suppliers, and merchants; can prevent or reduce theft and fraudulent activities; and can facilitate the conversion of a prior gift card scheme to the new system without creating an adverse user experience.